National Institute of Occupational Health ICMR, Kolkata

ICMR-Regional Occupational Health Centre (ROHC), Eastern is the eastern regional division of National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) and is a nodal centre of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India to investigate occupational and environmental health problems. This centre has initiated and participated in a number of research projects on health effects of different environmental toxins, e.g., arsenic, fluoride, lead, tobacco, aromatic hydrocarbons etc. at the population level. At present, scientists from this organization are investigating health effects of arsenic exposure, biomass fuel exposure, health hazards among waste disposal workers as well as chronic environmental pesticide exposure. Currently a case control study to find association of chronic environmental pesticide exposure with neurodegenerative disease, viz., dementia, Parkinson’s disease and depression using a paradigm of biomarkers and epidemiological information has been initiated in a rural, predominantly agrarian district in West Bengal. ROHC, Eastern was also involved in a multi-agency investigation involving National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), India and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA to investigate possible involvement of pesticides and other toxins in etiology of Acute Neurological Syndrome (ANS) among rural children in Muzaffarpur, Bihar and Malda, West Bengal. This institute is also developing projects on health effects of air pollution in eastern India and chromium and volatile organic compound exposure among tannery workers.